Update from Ghana

You know things are going...slowly, if not well, when i have time to post. ok, so compared to our last trip I define "well" as me not having to run all over the country collecting paperwork for the people we hired to process the adoption (social welfare officer, attorney, etc.)

I successfully met up with Ben Westerby on the flight to Ghana, and we successfully procured a center row each! I made the mistake {again} of taking the malaria meds on an empty stomach {I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that you are better off NOT taking your meds if you can't eat anything when you take them - unless of course, you want long, sleepless, bathroom-frequent, hours a head of you}

After I quizzed Ben on the I-600 process {Ginny, he passed with flying colors! Your super-organized binder really helped him, I think}. I stretched out across my three seats and slept - for about an hour and a half, and then couldn't sleep for the rest of the flight.

Adjoa's uncle and auntie were told I was coming and hoping to take her home, so they came to the school Monday to spend some time with her. They wanted to take some pictures with her so they would always be able to remember her. Cute, huh? I am so glad I will be able to tell her about the people who loved her very much in Ghana.

Funny side note: I guess her auntie was disciplining her for something and Adjoa said "I will go! I will go with my mama and eat fried rice!" Lol. at least she dishes it out to others too - not just me!

Anyway, I finally got to see my baby yesterday. She was so happy to see me! She started yelling excitedly for me in the car when she saw me. She would not leave my side at all that first night. It certainly made me feel good!

Staying with Kingsley's family has done wonders for her. She is not nearly as stubborn and she doesn't cry and throw a fit at all. She is minding really well. I sure hope it lasts! Otherwise I might need to hire Gloria ;) Gloria keeps telling me she is an orphan too - an old orphan, but still an orphan. She said I should find someone to adopt an old orphan, because she won't be much trouble! She cracks me up. I sure missed spending time with her.

I haven't really taken many pictures yet. That's really bad, I know. And it's going to make some adoptive parents really mad, but their children simply haven't been at the school. In fact, the only children I have seen so far are Saviour and Godfrid. :( I'm a little disappointed. Oh well.

So on to business. I filed the I-600 with Kingsley and the Westerby's Monday. We ran into a couple other families from Beacon House at the Embassy. It was really funny because I recognized one woman from her blog. Lol. There's nothing like asking someone if they are so-and-so.blogspot.com I didn't want to embarrass her with the details of her life that I knew {Happy Anniversary, by the way!} so I let a lot of things go that I wanted to comment on...

Anyway, they had some really helpful tips for us....AND this will kill Shelley, but all they did was ask for our copies. They didn't really check anything and they certainly didn't ask any questions. It was just like when we filed our I-600A in the States. Simple. Easy. About time!

Frustratingly, the passport still isn't ready. Kingsley got upset with the man who was supposed to process it in September. He withdrew the application and submitted it with another person who has promised it will be done in 2 weeks.

Kingsley wanted me to stay, but that is pretty much impossible. Our hope is that the I-600 gets processed quickly and the passport comes in so she is ready to go home with another family travelling. We'll see.

I'm terribly sad about it, but not surprised. It would have taken the never-done-before type of impossible to bring her home this trip. But that doesn't mean my mother-heart wasn't hoping for it nonetheless.

So that is the update. I will try to get back, but I probably will have no other news that what I have written today....